RIDING in Hyderabad

Being someone who loves riding, who loves to have the wind in her hair, i must say, riding for a girl in Hyderabad can get really dirty (not necessarily for her). 
I am lucky to have parents who let me ride a motorcycle. Parents, Who actually bought me a motorcycle. I do not know, what the fuss is about a girl riding a bike. Honestly! It is easier than riding a car! And people have accepted gals riding cars haven't they? I do not know. But my dad definitely does. He did, when i first rode an ENFIELD, with him as my pillion. He did, when people turned their heads gawking at me like am someone that just landed from MARS. He did, when cars stopped and windows rolled down just to get a look at me. And am sure that is when he decided to sell the bullet , almost breaking my heart. Almost. Only months later, after a couple of tantrums and lots of sulking , my dad surprises me with a BIKE. Yamaha Fazer! My very own BIKE! My Love! Yes! He can cheer me up like no other! He gets me more than my share of attention! He is someone i can rely on! Gals, trust me, a bike can be your perfect boyfriend ;) ( the drama is done :p ) . 
It took some time to sink in. For me. For my friends. And family. But, to the people on the road, it never seems to get old. I had people following me, pointing to me saying, "arey potti chalari yaar" and trying to race. There were also people giving me the thumbs up or an appreciative word. Initially all this attention bothered me. My exact thoughts were, "its just a bike! And its so easy to ride! Get used to it already!" Over time, i got used to it. Now am almost immune to all the attention. But, I should talk about these incidents: 

1. In the very first week, i rode to Chilkur (around 20 kilometers from my place).Adorned with only a half helmet. On the way back, college guys on 2 bikes, one of them doing a 'tricky', noticing I am a gal tried to race me. Since, I had already told myself a hundred times not to let my ego do silly things, i ignored. Once. Twice. Well, the third time I guess I just wanted to show them. So it started, 50 60 80 kmph (I was not supposed to rip my Fazer fellow by then). And then suddenly a van appears I slow down, the other fool (yea one was me) does not. He rams straight into it. One of his pillions falls off. I brake. Look. No major injuries to them. Actually, luckily , No injuries to them at all! About their bike i cant say the same. His friends on the other bike come up behind and help. A lesson learnt. I bought a full helmet the very next day. It makes it harder for people to recognize am a gal. or that is what I told myself. 
There were several incidents following this, when guys, egos hurt, tried to race, but I have learnt to keep cool for their safety  :P. 

2. . After the previous incident , I made it a point to put on a helmet and a jacket EVERYtime. Until then. That was ONE time I dint. It was early summer morning and it was a cool weather. I just did not want to miss the breeze and there were not many people on the road anyway, so I took the helmet off. We rode on the Necklace Road for sometime and headed back. It was past 8 in the morning. We had to stop at a Red Signal. There was the minimum morning traffic. People noticed. Stared. We were too busy gossiping to give them much thought. As the signal turns green, and I shift my bike into Gear, I am surrounded. Like proper ‘ Celebrity-security’ surrounded. I hear cat-calls and my friend freaks out a little. Like I said, I learned to keep my head cool. So, I asked her to enjoy the Escort service for a while. I looked for an opening. I found one. Of course, I can describe the whole dodging them more elaborately and in a more filmy style ( I did feel like a star after I escaped them :P), but that is not the point I am trying to make here. I accelerated and NO, they could not catch up. I remember, some 5 years ago, a couple of my friends, on an Activa were surrounded too and ended up on the road, bloody, bone dislocated. I escaped scratch-less. That could just be my luck. Or a cool head.

But WHY, WHY does a girl riding a motorcycle invite all these?? Why cant Boys ( not MEN) digest the fact that girls ride?

Well , that did not stop me. It just made me ride more and ride better. Head held higher, ‘cause I am doing what I love.